Pick Up Your Cross

We don’t like the idea of suffering. In fact, many of us will go to extensive lengths not to suffer. We go along with incorrect viewpoints, so we are not ostracized by our friends. Even if we disagree, we stay silent. We may even commit petty crimes to be accepted by others.

Why do we do these things when we know they are wrong? Why are we so averse to suffering or so committed to being accepted by people who clearly do not believe what we believe? Is it because our faith is not as strong as it should be? Is it because we want to be popular?

Jesus tells His disciples that they must pick up their cross and follow Him. He tells us the same today. In the case of the disciples of the first century, some of them did literally have to carry their cross and were crucified. Yet, that is not the case for us today. Our cross is the possibility of being shunned, ostracized, and ridiculed for our belief in Jesus and His Word.

My suspicion is we spend more time reading romance novels than the Bible. We spend more time reading history or fantasy novels or news than the Bible. We spend more time perusing the internet whether shopping or watching videos than reading the Bible. We don’t spend time seeking to understand Jesus’ teaching, yet we want Him to bless us.

Here is what I’ve discovered. The more time I spend in God’s Word, the more I am blessed. My blessings include peace, joy, love, self-awareness, an awareness of God in my life, and seeing others as Jesus sees them. Much of that is the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). As I experience those things in my life, I also experience others opposing me because they are thinking of earthly things.

The cross Jesus asks us to carry is one that is in opposition of earthly thought. It is one of seeking to understand and follow His heavenly thought. Our cross is to be countercultural, just like He was. Not simply to be rebellious for rebelliousness’s sake, but to be in sync with the Holy Spirit. Being of the same mind as Jesus will naturally put us at odds with the world.

I pray we all seek to be of the same mind as Jesus. I pray we seek to be in sync with the Holy Spirit. I pray each one of us will pick up our cross and follow Jesus, just as He has asked us to do. Read God’s Word. Seek to know Jesus. Seek to be in sync with the Holy Spirit. Pick up your cross and follow Jesus.

Mark 8:34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

Just Like Peter

What occupies your thoughts for most of the day? Are your thoughts focused primarily on the immediate task before you? Do you ponder what you will do later in the day? Do you plan your weekend events? Do you think about what God has in store for you?

I will venture to say that most of us are focused on the immediate most of the time. We may think a few days ahead to the weekend. We might plan a vacation a few months ahead of time. We may even set a goal for five or ten years down the line. But we likely don’t think about them much.

Think that’s a harsh statement? Then spend a few moments and try to remember the last time you thought and planned a summer vacation. Now, compare that to how much time you’ve spent this week thinking your daily job, what you are having for dinner, or what you are watching on the television. It doesn’t really compare, does it?

If that is not bad enough, when was the last time you thought about what God desires for you? Most of us spend very little time thinking about. Our prayers are more about what we want and rarely about what God wants. We don’t ask him what he wants us to do. Instead, we tell him what we want to do and ask him to bless it.

Peter was in this same thought process. He had just confessed that Jesus was the Messiah. But his view of the Messiah was an earthly view. His vision was of a king who would run the Romans out of Israel and make Israel a great nation again. So, when Jesus said He was going to be put to death and raise again on the third day, all Peter heard was Jesus was going to die. That was not the vision he had of the Messiah.

Our vision of the Messiah is a little different than Peter’s. Yet, I’m not convinced we truly see Him for who He is. We don’t fully realize what He has done for us nor the promises He has made for us. We are not much different than Peter. We are thinking of earthly things and not heavenly things.

I pray we all spend more time seeking to understand who Jesus is. I pray we spend more time thinking about heavenly things. I pray each one of us will set aside our wants for God’s desires. Seek to know Jesus. Spend time thinking divinely. Ask God what he wants. Seek to fulfill God’s desires.

Mark 8:33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

From Faith to Righteousness

What does righteousness mean to you? What does faith mean to you? Does righteousness include faith? Does faith lead to righteousness? Is righteousness something you can achieve in this life? Are you pursuing righteousness? Have you taken time to ponder these questions?

Righteousness can be a contentious topic to discuss. There are many opinions, and all of them are based on one Scripture or another. However, to fully understand righteousness we need to take a larger view of Scripture. We cannot point to one single passage to fully define it.

We know that God is righteous. That is undisputed. The dispute comes when we start talking about people being righteous. We start dissecting it and identifying different forms of righteousness. We may hear someone say we are viewed as righteous through the blood of Jesus, and that is true. We may hear that we cannot attain righteousness on our own, and that is true.

We wrestle with whether we can become righteous during our lifetime or not. John Wesley believed we could. He lived his entire life striving for it. He believed that through our faith and love for God we could become righteous. Not because we are inherently righteous, but because the closer we grow toward God, the closer we come to being righteous. He believed it was possible to grow close enough to become righteous.

Paul tells us that Abraham’s faith was reckoned or credited to him as righteousness. Does that mean we can be credited with righteousness, too? Sure. But we need to understand that Abraham’s faith was not simply belief in God. He put it into action. He got up and left his home country when God told him to do so. He went where God told him and believed what God told would happen would, indeed, happen. He lived his faith out in real life.

I pray we all believe we can become righteous. I pray we seek to be righteous. I pray each one of us will put our faith into action, living it out in our everyday life. Believe you can be righteous. Seek to be righteous. Strengthen your faith. Put your faith into action.

Romans 4:20-22 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.”

Law Versus Faith

Are you a law-abiding citizen? Are you someone who believes everyone should adhere to the letter of the law? Do you strive to obey the law by dotting all the i’s and crossing all the t’s? Does that apply to your Christian life as well?

Obeying the law is important. It is especially important that we obey the criminal laws. They make our society safer. And rightfully so, we expect others to obey those laws. We can agree that obeying criminal laws is better for our society.

But what about unwritten laws? We often call them customs and courtesies. They include opening a door for someone else, taking turns at a four-way stop sign, and taking your hat off when you eat. Does it drive us crazy when people don’t do these things? It can if we let it.

The same can be true within the walls of our churches. We can become wrapped around the axel on little traditions. They may include, people not being on time for worship, not liking online meetings, and even members parking in a visitor parking spot. These are good things to follow, but are they worth our stressing out over?

The Apostle Paul makes a bold statement to the church in Rome. He says it is not the law that makes us righteous but our faith. Jesus stated the two most important commands are to love God and love neighbor. If we truly love God as he loves us and we love our neighbor as God does, our faith will grow, and we will seek to do the best we can for one another.

Through our love and faith, we are made righteous. Because Jesus gave His life for us, we become righteous by putting our faith in Him and our faith is demonstrated in our love for Him and one another. Neither the law nor our man-made traditions can make us righteous. It is only our heartfelt faith in Jesus Christ that can make us righteous.

I pray we all put our faith in Jesus Christ. I pray we worry less about man-made traditions than loving God and neighbor. I pray each one of us will demonstrate our faith by loving one another. Differentiate between law and faith. Give God your whole heart. Love one another as God loves you.

Romans 4:13 For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.

Bow to Truth

Do you like to hear the truth? At what point will you bow down to God? When will you relinquish your desire to be in control? Will only happen when you have grown old and are nearing the end of your days? Will it be when you have experienced a disastrous event?

Truth can be a hard reality. We often go about our daily lives ignoring the hard truth. We live in a fantasy we think we control. Our desire for everything to be perfect causes us to live fake lives, pretending everything is good. We try to sweep the unpleasant reality under the rug.

The unpleasant reality I’m talking about is not what the news blasts at us. No, it is the fact that we are not in control. The fact that we allow others to control us. They tell us what we should think. They tell us what clothes we should buy. They tell us how we should like and dislike. All of this causes us to develop biases…and we deny it.

There is one truth that all of us will have to face one day. Everyone will bow before God. We can deny it all we want. However, we are told over and over and over in the Bible that it will happen. Our choice is simple. We can bow before him during this life, learning to walk in his ways, and follow Jesus. Or we can deny it, perhaps even going to our grave denying it, and bow to him when he comes to judge the world. The second choice ends with us being sent to eternal torment. The first choice puts in his presence for an eternity of joy.

We have a choice to believe the truth or deny it. But one day we will see the truth face-to-face. At that point, there will be no denying it. In fact, we will be incapable of denying it. Our choice is simple yet made difficult by the pressures of the world. We need to make the hard choice and choose God over the world.

I pray we all seek to know the truth. I pray we know that we will all bow down the Lord. I pray we make the choice to bow before him now and choose an eternal life of joy over an eternal life of torment. Seek the truth. Bow before God today. Choose eternal life with God.

Psalm 22:27-28

All the ends of the earth shall remember 

and turn to the Lord; 

and all the families of the nations 

shall worship before him.

For dominion belongs to the Lord,

and he rules over the nations.

Limitless

Have you given much thought to names? If you could change your name to anything, what would it be? Would it be a name that has a meaning? Would it be a name you especially like. Would it be a name of someone in your family history?

We don’t normally get much say in what our name is. We are named by our parents and that is that. When we become parents, we spend time thinking about what to name our children. Often, we choose names we like or are popular. We don’t often think about the meaning of the name.

In the case of Abram and Sarai, God renamed them to Abraham and Sarah. God changed Abraham’s name because he was going to be the ancestor of a multitude of nations (Genesis 17:5). He changed Sarah’s name because kings would come from her offspring. God was going to do something amazing through the two of them, something they could not fathom.

Abraham was a shepherd. He was faithful to God and left his home country to travel to a new one God promised to give his descendants. Sarah was also faithful and went along with Abraham to fulfill God’s promise. But I’m sure both of them were wondering how this would happen. Perhaps there were doubts. After all, when God made his promise, Abraham was ninety-nine years old, and Sarah was eighty-nine years old.

As we grow older, we begin to settle into the limitations of this world. We begin to realize we are not as quick, strong, or flexible as we were when we were young. Our bodies ache. Our memory may not be as good as it used to be. We cast aside any notion of doing things we did when we were young. Yet, God can do anything through us he decides to do. Our part is to be willing and to believe God can do it.

I pray we all are willing to be used by God. I pray we believe God can do anything he wants. I pray each one of us will submit to God’s plan and understand he is limitless. Submit to God’s plan. Be willing to be used by him. Know God is limitless. Trust his promises.

Genesis 17:15-16 God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”

Walk Before the Lord

What would you do for a million dollars? What if the amount of money was so large you could not count it? Would you do anything, even if it was offensive to you? Is there anything you would not do? How do you respond to God’s promises when he just wants you to obey?

Playing the hypothetical game with money can be fun. Many of us have planned how we would spend the money if we won the lottery. It’s a nice little imagination game than can capture our attention for a while. Then we realize it will never happen, especially if we don’t play the lottery.

But God’s promises are a horse of a different color. They stand out. We know he keep his promises. Yet, we often don’t take him up on them. Why? We don’t want to wait. We want it all immediately, which is funny when we think about it, because we must wait for lots of things. We wait nine months for a child to be born. We wait for school to be out for the summer. We wait in long check out lines when Christmas shopping.

When we realize it is our impatience and lack of faith in God’s promises that stops us from taking him up on his promises, is the time we start the process of taking hold of his promises. It is no different than being an addict. Only when we realize and admit our problem can we take steps to be better. So, we must come to grips with our impatience and lack of faith to start the process of building our faith and taking God up on his promises.

Just as God promised Abraham that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars and made it so, God’s promises are valid for us today. Just Abraham walked before the Lord, we must walk before him as well. Just as Abraham continued to believe in God, we must continue to believe in him. It is our acceptance of God’s promises and our faith in him to fulfill them that allows us to see his promises come true in our lives.

I pray we all believe God’s promises. I pray we walk before him in faith. I pray each one of us will build our faith and take God up on his promises, trusting him to fulfill them. Walk before God. Build your faith. Trust in God’s promises. Trust God to fulfill his promises. Live the abundant life.

Genesis 17:1-2 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.”

The Time is Fulfilled

How do you know it is the right time? Is there simply a feeling about it? Is it the right time because your planning has worked out? Do you know because someone told you? Or did you recognize it yourself? Have you paid attention to God’s timing?

Determining the right time can be a challenge. There are seasons in our lives in which timing can be critical. There are others when timing doesn’t seem to play much of a role. Yet, we can all relate to having the right timing for some things.

Timing may be key when proposing marriage. We hear of “perfect timing” in a variety of sports situations. Even passing another vehicle on the highway requires timing. We may say that being in the right place at the right time makes all the difference. We often don’t think about it, but timing plays a key role in our lives.

Jesus said the time is fulfilled when He starts His ministry. He said the kingdom of God had come near. What does that mean? First, it means that God stepped into the world he created. Second, as we find out a little later in Jesus’ ministry, God has provided a way for our reconciliation with him.

Jesus goes on to say that we are to repent and believe in the good news. He is giving us the instructions we need to come into a right relationship with God. Repenting and believing in Jesus is how we are forgiven and brought into good standing before God.

I pray we all seek a right relationship with God. I pray we accept reconciliation with God. I pray each one of us knows God’s timing is perfect, we repent, and we believe in Jesus Christ. Seek a right relationship with God. Be reconciled. Recognize God’s timing. Hear the good news. Repent and believe.

Mark 1:14-15 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

Heaven Rejoices

Many of us have been baptized, but how many of us remember our baptism? Depending on your religious background, we may have been baptized as infants, young children, young adults, or even as an older adult. So, remembering it may be near impossible.

For those who were baptized as infants, they may have gone through confirmation classes and been confirmed in a church in their early teens. If so, they may remember those classes and the experience of being confirmed. If you went through that, how was that experience?

I grew up in a tradition in which a person was not baptized until they were old enough to make the decision on their own. We moved between my eighth grade and freshman year in school, and we fell away from the church. Finally, I returned to the church with my own family and was baptized at thirty-seven years old. I can say that I felt refreshed and lighter after being baptized, but there was no visible tearing of the heavens.

When Jesus was baptized, there was a tearing of the heavens. That is hard for us to imagine. Our minds may think of a science fiction scene that shows the sky being torn. Though it is recorded the Spirit descended like a dove, it does not mean it was in the form of a dove. A dove descends softly, with its wings outspread, and lands softly on the branch. In this case, I imagine the Spirit becoming one with Jesus, perhaps dissolving into Him. The Father speaks. I imagine a commanding, booming voice that declares who Jesus is.

Our baptism may not be as dramatic nor rending the heavens in the same way Jesus’ baptism was. Yet, our baptism does create joy in heaven. We are told the angels in heave rejoice when one lost soul repents and comes to be a follower of Christ (Luke 15:10). Therefore, even if we do not see or hear it, the heavenly host rejoices over us.

I pray we all decide to be followers of Jesus. I pray we know heaven rejoices over us. I pray each one of us who have not been baptized will decide to be baptized to show our commitment to Jesus. Know you are loved by God. Know that heaven rejoices for you. Become a follower of Jesus. God will be well pleased with you.

Mark 1:9-11 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

Once For All

How good are you at forgiving? Do you forgive others when they do something that offends you? Do you forgive yourself when you do something you know is wrong? Will you accept forgiveness from others? Do you know that Christ died to cover all sins for all time?

Forgiving others can be difficult. If someone slanders us, we may be able to prove them wrong and move on. If they physically injure us, we may heal and put the injury behind us. But forgiving the person for doing these things to us may take a long time to do.

Forgiving ourselves can be even more difficult. There are sins we live with that only we know about. We remember things we did wrong years ago, perhaps as children, and may continue to beat ourselves up about them. We can be held prisoner by these memories, continually trying to make for them. We may even impose the punishment of ourselves on others unknowingly.

I have recently participated in an exercise to demonstrate how our sins are forgiven. It is a simple exercise. You write a sin on a small piece of flash paper. You have a lit candle available. You light the flash paper with the candle and quickly toss it into the air. The flash paper burns very quickly, leaving no smoke and no ash. It simply disappears without a trace.

Jesus died a horrible death on the cross to do the same for our sins. We confess them, ask for forgiveness, and His suffering eliminates them. His righteousness covers our unrighteousness. His perfection covers our imperfection. His suffering was endured so that we could go to God without fear, without reservation, and without hesitation. Jesus gave Himself up so that we can be reconciled with God.

I pray we all know that Jesus died for our sins. I pray we accept forgiveness from Jesus. I pray each one of us will forgive ourselves, knowing that God forgives us when we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness. Christ died for you. He died so your sins would be forgiven. Learn to forgive others. Learn to forgive yourself. Ask God to help you forgive.

1 Peter 3:18a For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God.